Until recent years, the traditional way of disposing of refuse, trash, and waste materials was to transport it to a remote area and simply dump it. However, with the environmental concerns brought about by the problems created by the uncontrolled and unplanned dumping of raw waste, it has become the practice in most industrialized nations to segregate waste, recycle the recyclable materials, incinerate what can safely be burned, chemically treat and convert those waste products which can be so treated and converted, and dispose of the remaining products in carefully prepared landfills. However, in regions that are subjected to severe climates such as in the Artic and Antarctic regions where land is in a permafrost state, disposal of trash and refuse present unusual problems. These problems are magnified in these remote areas where chemical treatments, incineration, recycling, and landfills are simply precluded because of economic considerations. This is particularly true in those regions such as parts of Alaska where there is no significant urbanization nor infrastructure which provides all of the necessary means for waste disposal. In the recent past, in remote villages, it has been the practice to collect non-food and non-toxic waste in plastic bags and simply transport it to satisfactory distance from the village and leave it on the tundra. Since the permafrost condition prevents any landfills, and even if a landfill were possible, it would not be feasible to have sophisticated equipment to prepare refuse for landfills. However, one of the drawbacks to the present practice is that the plastic trash bags or disposal bags, particularly bags of polyethylene or polypropylene, after a period of time exposed to sunlight and severe cold, tend to weaken and rupture under the high wind conditions that are prevalent in these regions; and, unfortunately, the refuse is scattered across the tundra.
Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to provide products and methods for secure, long-term storage of refuse so that the refuse is not undesirably scattered.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a receptacle which will contain significant amounts of refuse and be resistant to deterioration and rupture due to sunlight and temperature extremes.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a means of protecting the environment in regions with extreme climatic conditions by safely storing and containing refuse.
The foregoing and other objects are accomplished by the invention which is described hereinafter.